Naruto What Makes You Beautiful -- Rock Lee

**The early morning air, heavy yet cold as though a breath from inside a glass of ice water embraced Suzume the moment she opened the front door. It would not yet be sunrise; she'd awoken about two hours before, in fact. She hoped it to be the right time to streets of Konoha were quiet, peaceful with a mere handful of yawning civilians getting ready to open up shop, make their early deliveries, and other such calls of duty. It didn't take Suzume long to approach the entrance to the training center; a place only shinobi usually went. But she had a particular purpose, ever since that moment a couple of nights ago. Feeling for the lock, Suzume soon slipped in the key she'd borrowed from her aunt; Zolykia, being a former shinobi, had managed to pull a few strings for her grateful niece.**

**Finally, she reached the field of equipment – a fenced yard behind the registration building. Clicking her walking stick back onto her belt, quietly setting her bag on a bench nearby, she outstretched a hand to a stationary, stuffed leather bag stiffly perched on a wooden stand: a training dummy. ****_Perfect to begin with_****, she thought. Listening briefly for any others present, as self-defense training on her own was embarrassing enough, she closed her bandaged fists as her aunt had advised and took a quick, easy punch at the bag two feet from her stance. It barely gave, practically ricocheting her attack. Face crinkling in concentration, she took another swing, with her left this time. Same result, only her aim felt less accurate – even as a waitress, ambidexterity was not a strong suit when it came to slugging a dummy. **

**Another hit. And another. Even though no gratitude came from her knuckles, the motion, she could tell, was gradually becoming easier for her forearms and elbows. Maybe it was time to try a kick. Biting her lip and bracing her left leg for a right-legged kick, she leaned backward enough to lift a knee into the front of her inanimate opponent. She then proceeded to extend her folded leg and rammed her shin into the dummy's side. Of course, something about that didn't feel right. Could such a clumsy move really be effective against a real opponent? Maybe she had simply faltered on her balance. Again, she kicked with her right leg – knee then shin. "No, that doesn't make sense," she mumbled, shaking her head in a moment of frustration. How incompetent could someone feel? Two more kicks; same form. Sighing, she shook her head a little more fervently. ****_It feels rickety…what could I have forgotten from Aunt Zo's instruction?_**** One more time. It still felt ineffective. **

**Suzume finally drew back from the piece of equipment, gazing into the blackness of her missing sight and focused on her own imagination of the seemingly impossible task at hand; if she didn't even know how to kick right, what were the odds of her self-teaching going well at all? **

**It was then she became conscious of it: the tingling on the back of her neck or perhaps the solid poking at her subconscious mind that someone was present…and watching her. Shoulders tensing, she hesitantly quieted down, hoping to overhear some other signs to support her unprecedented feeling. "Hello?" a bit unsteadily, she called out into the oppressive silence. "Is someone there?"**

**It wasn't long before she received her reply. "Y-Yes, forgive me, ****_I _****am." The young man's familiar voice eased all of Suzume's tension immediately: a voice she had heard only a few nights ago. "I only just arrived, Suzume."**

**Eyebrows lifting in her surprise and cheeks flushing amidst a rush of embarrassment, Suzume quickly shook her head apologetically. "Oh, no, ****_I'm_**** sorry, Lee," in her attempt to laugh it off, the silence of wondering what Lee's expression might be showing just then left her still uneasy in that moment. She knew him to take his work seriously; would he be offended that she had come to the training grounds? **

**"****You are…training…Suzume?" Lee asked hesitantly, as though he doubted the question's propriety. **

**"****Uh," quickly, she laughed in absolute embarrassment, "Well…I suppose you could ****_call _****it that…" she answered, still flustered by the visit.**

**There was a brief moment of silence, easily beginning to worry Suzume just before he continued. "That is wonderful! Do you, too, wish to be a shinobi then?"**

**"****Oh! No, no, nothing like that, I just…" She could feel his questioning gaze. "You know the other night…when you helped me at the tea shop…? You, um…" the heat of the discomfort from that night was quickly returning to her face as she explained, "You caught me when the customer had stuck his foot out in the aisle?" (Stay tuned in if that comment just piqued your interest! I'm hoping to post that scene as well!)**

** "****Yes, of course," Lee answered, his voice darkening just a little – that night had proceeded with him demanding an apology from the one called Kankuro for tripping her in the first place. Still, he seemed intent on her continuing. **

**"****Well, I…since then, I have wanted to be able to take better care of myself. You know, to be able to actually catch myself?" she smiled in his direction upon her awkward wording. **

**Lee paused a moment. "So…you wish to learn self-defense then?" he asked, surprisingly with no demeaning tone in his words. He had an odd yet admirable way of making every person feel as though he thought them worth knowing.**

**Smiling, relieved no further explanation was in order, Suzume nodded her answer. **

**"****Ah, well then perhaps…I could help you?" he hesitated on the question, the words quickening a little by the end. "I am no sensei, but I have trained long and hard, particularly in Tai-Jutsu."**

**Suzume's eyebrows furrowed above the yellow silk bandage wrapped about her eyes. "Help me?" she asked gently. **

**"****Well, yes. If…if you would like?"**


End file.

Naruto, Romance